The Princess Dehra Read online

  VIII INFERENCE OR FACT

  Through the story Courtney sat with half closed eyes, pulling at his grayimperial, the unlighted cigarette between his lips. With the main factshe was already familiar, as was every Embassy in Dornlitz, but much ofthe small details were new to him; and at the end, for a while, he wassilent, fitting the incidents together in his mind.

  "Do you care to tell me what the police make of it?" he asked.

  "Nothing, as usual," Armand answered. "Their intelligence doesn't runbeyond a hidden panel, and sounding every wall and floor in the Palace;they scorn any theory but that His Majesty concealed the Book."

  "Which is perfectly absurd," Dehra added; "why should he conceal it, withthe box and the vault at hand?"

  "Why don't you make them take another lead?" Lady Helen asked.

  "Because I'm sick of them and their ways.--I've sent them away--and awaythey stay; in another day there wouldn't have been a wall in the Palace."

  "She told the officer in charge the only way he could ever find the Bookwas not to search for it," Armand laughed. "And then gave him a grade inrank to salve the words."

  "Don't interrupt, sir!" the Princess exclaimed. "And remember I can'tgive you a grade."

  "Was any one with the King after you left him that night?" Courtneyasked.

  "Only Adolph, the valet," Dehra replied. "I'm quite sure he would receiveno one at that hour."

  "And what did Adolph say as to the Book?"

  "That he hadn't seen it for four days prior to Frederick's death," saidArmand.

  "Who told you that?" the Princess asked quickly.

  "He told the Council."

  "Then he deliberately deceived you; he saw it the night I did--the lastnight;--he came to the door just after the King spoke of Armand'sdecree."

  Courtney struck a match and carefully lit the cigarette.

  "Where is Adolph?" he asked.

  "He has gone back to France, I think."

  Courtney sent a quick, inquiring look at Armand, which the latter missed,having turned toward Lady Helen.

  "Oh, I remember," he replied; "there was a stray line about him in thepaper--grief and so forth. At the time, I inferred he had been banishedby the police, for some reason."

  "We can have him back," she interjected.

  The Archduke looked around. "Adolph is dead," he said. "His body wasfound behind the hedge under the King's library windows three days afterFrederick's demise."

  "But his return to France?" Dehra exclaimed.

  "A fiction of your police, doubtless," said Courtney dryly; "they arevery clever.... He was--killed, of course?"

  "In the Park, the night the King died; a dagger wound in the heart," theArchduke explained.

  "Do you know that to be the fact; or is it the police theory?"

  "I don't know anything--indeed, it was only yesterday I learned of it andsent for the papers in the case."

  "And the--killer, I assume, has not been apprehended."

  "Naturally not," said Armand; and proceeded to explain the matter as thepolice viewed it.

  "What do you think, now?" Dehra demanded, at the end.

  A bit of a smile crept into Courtney's face.

  "I think," he said, "that the only circumstance which relieves the policefrom utter imbecility is their not knowing that the valet had lied to theRoyal Council as to the Book."

  The Princess' finger tips began to tap the table, and the little wrinkleshowed between her eyes.

  "Don't, my dear, don't," laughed Armand; "you can't give the entireBureau a grade in rank--and besides, they are not to blame. I called theChief down hard yesterday, only to have him tell me it was the ancientand rigid custom never, except by special order, to investigate a crimethat touched the royal household, nor to follow any clue which led insidethe Palace. And I apologized--and instantly abolished the custom."

  "They were specially ordered to search for the Book of Laws," thePrincess insisted; "wouldn't that lead them to Adolph?"

  "Under their theory Adolph had nothing to do with the Book," saidCourtney.

  "Just so," the Archduke remarked; "and between their rotten theories andcustoms the business has been sadly bungled."

  "Their fatal fallacy," said Courtney, "was, it seems to me, in assumingthat no one but His Majesty and Her Highness could open the vault.--Ihave no doubt the valet had discovered the combination."

  "But the box," Dehra objected; "it was locked when I got it, and Adolphcould not have had the key."

  "He might have had a duplicate."

  "I think not," said Armand; "it is a trick lock with a most complicatedarrangement, and to make a duplicate would have required the originalkey."

  "Well, however that may be is not essential," said Courtney; "the factremains that, between eleven o'clock of one night and ten o'clock of thesecond day thereafter, the Book disappeared; and the last time it wasseen, to our knowledge, it was lying under the King's own hand, on thetable in his library, with the open box beside it; and that the latterwas found, closed and locked and empty, in its place in the vault, whilethe most thorough search for the Book has been ineffectual except, itseems, to prove that it is not in the Palace. We can safely assume thatHis Majesty did not hide it; hence he returned it to its place; andwhoever took it, got it out of a locked box in a locked vault. For this,Adolph had the best opportunity."

  "But what possible motive?" the Princess exclaimed.

  Courtney smiled. "If I could tell you that, we would be far towardfinding the Book; yet he had a motive--his lie to the Council proves it."

  "You think he stole the Laws?" she asked.

  Courtney sent a smoke cloud shooting upward and watched it fade.

  "I think," said he, "that if Adolph didn't steal them, he knows who did;his lie can bear no other construction."

  "And his death?" the Archduke asked.

  Courtney watched another smoke ring and made no reply.

  "Come," insisted Armand; "answer."

  The other shook his head.

  "I stop with the lie," he said. "Indeed, I can't get beyond it. The valetwould have but one reason for stealing the Book--to sell it to--Some-one,who would have every reason to conceal or even to destroy it. Everylogical inference points to this Some-one; and yet, for once, logic seemsto be at fault."

  "You mean the Duke of Lotzen?" said the Princess.

  Courtney smiled, but made no answer.

  "Your pardon," she said, "but at least you can tell us why the logic isat fault."

  "Because," said he, "the actual facts are otherwise. As Armand knows, Ilike to play with mystery, and when I may help a friend I like it all themore. The logical solution of the matter, in view of the decree, is aknowing valet, and a ready buyer; yet the latter was not in Dornlitz,when the Book was stolen, nor has my most careful investigation disclosedany communication, by Adolph, with him or his friends. On the contrary,the evidence is absolutely conclusive against it; and hence acquits theSome-one of having had any hand in the theft."

  "You knew, then, of Adolph's death?" Armand asked.

  "Yes--though not all the details as you related them."

  The Archduke smiled; there were very few details missed when Courtneystarted an investigation.

  "Your argument, Richard," he said, "is based upon the hypothesis thatAdolph is the thief, which appears most probable; yet did yourexamination suggest no other solution?"

  "Absolutely none--and, more peculiar still, I was unable to find theslightest trace of the valet outside the Palace, between the time he leftthe Council and the discovery of his dead body behind the hedge--thoughyou and Her Highness saw him in the library after the Council adjourned."

  "And that is the last time I ever saw him," said Dehra.

  "And more than that," Armand added, "it's the last time any one saw himin the Palace; I had that matter looked into yesterday. The Council roseabout noon and afterward not a servant nor soldier so much as laid eyeson him."

/>   "Isn't there something particularly significant in the place where Adolphwas found?" the Princess asked. "Mightn't he have been killed in thelibrary and then, from the window, the body dropped behind the hedge?"

  Courtney's hand went to his imperial reflectively.

  "A very reasonable and a very likely explanation," he said; "and thenature of the wound supports it; it was a noiseless assassination;--but,again, that eliminates the Some-one."

  "Very true," said the Archduke; "he left the Council before it adjourned,to return at once to town."

  "But did he return at once?" Dehra persisted. "Mightn't he have remainedand killed Adolph--some how, some way--I don't know, but mightn't he?"

  Armand shook his head. "I think not," he said. "I looked into that too,and there seems to be no doubt Lotzen was in Dornlitz before one o'clock;and every moment of his time, until Adolph was found, has been accountedfor; so, even assuming he didn't leave the Palace immediately, he wouldhave had to kill the valet within half an hour after we saw him in thelibrary; and that, under all the conditions, is utterly incredible."

  "Nothing's incredible where Lotzen is concerned," she answered. "So letus assume he did kill Adolph, in the King's library, during that veryhalf hour between noon and twelve-thirty, and answer me this: Why did hekill him?"

  "Either to get the Book of Laws or because Adolph knew too muchconcerning it," said Armand, smiling at her earnestness.

  "Exactly; and, therefore, Lotzen either has the Book or he knows where itis.... Am I not right?" she demanded, turning to Courtney.

  "Undoubtedly, Your Highness--according to your premises."

  "You don't admit the premises?"

  "I can't--they are too improbable--and the facts are against them."

  "Oh, facts!" she exclaimed, "facts! I don't care a rap for facts. Lotzenkilled Adolph and Lotzen has the Book."

  Courtney looked at her curiously--the idea was preposterous, naturally,but the very arbitrariness of her conclusions was softened by herearnestness and evident faith in their truth. It was, of course, justanother case of woman's intuition, that begged every question and torelogic into tatters; yet, sometimes, he had known it to guess truly,despite the most adverse facts--might it be that here was just anothersuch guess?

  The table stood back a little way among the trees, and was hidden fromthe Palace by the hedge of rhododendron, that flanked the roadway whereit swept around the great marble pergola; and so they did not see the manin undress cavalry uniform, who came slowly along the terrace, and,descending the steps, took the path leading to the sun-dial. At it hepaused, with desultory interest seemingly, to read the shadow; bendingover, the while, to blow away the dust.

  As he did so, the Princess saw him, through a rift in the hedge. Firstshe frowned, then a quizzical smile settled on her lips, and she glancedagain at Courtney.

  "Do you still doubt?" she asked.

  Courtney, preoccupied, looked at her a moment without replying.

  "Yes," he said; "being a man and intuitionless, I still must doubt."

  At that moment, the officer passed the hedge and they all saw him.

  "Cousin!" the Princess called,--"cousin!"

  The Duke of Lotzen faced about sharply, then doffed cap and approached.

  "Your Highness spoke?" he said, bowing.

  Dehra leaned on the table, her chin in her hand, and studied him a bit,while the others wondered, and Armand's anger rose.

  "Cousin," she said, "I have just asserted that you killed Adolph and havethe Book of Laws--is it not the truth?"

  Lady Helen gasped; Armand half rose from his chair; even Courtney'sstudied immobility of countenance was not impervious to his surprise.

  The Duke alone met the situation with perfect imperturbability. Heneither started, frowned, nor changed expression in the slightest; thepleasant smile, that was on his lips, lingered unabated, while the handthat rested on his sword hilt was as steady as the cold, blue eyes whichgave back the Princess' gaze. Then, gradually, the smile broadened,creeping slowly upward, until it touched the cold blue eyes, thoughwarming them not a whit; presently, he laughed, gently, and with just atrace of jeer.

  "It is not for a subject to contradict the Regent of Valeria," hesaid--and with a bow and a salute he turned languidly away.

  And the Princess did not stop him, but in silence, chin still on hand,she watched him out of sight.